The Trickster and the Pawn
by Danny LaVoie
Summary: What if the Akira/Ren sold out his teammates? And kept the identity of the traitor a secret...a deal made into a blood oath.


I sat in the interrogation room shackled and silent. The drugs administered to me had finally worn down in their effectiveness. In front of me sat the last target I failed to take down. Sae Nijiima stared down at me with her dark brown eyes and her serious expression plastered on her face. She turned her gaze away from me looking down at her watch.

"My time is almost up." Sae stated. "But before I go, I want to offer you a last ultimatum." My head lifted slightly at this. 'An ultimatum? What could she possibly offer to me?' I thought. Once again she pulled out the case file and set it down in front of me.

"From what I understand, you were close with fellow accomplices who aided you in each target. If you can confirm my suspicions of each accomplice, I can see to it that your sentence is lowered." Sae firmly stated. Thinking back on each of my teammates, I began to remember how they had joined my team.

"First, the ex track team star of Shujin Academy Ryuji Sakamoto." Ryuji. His charismatic grin and eager eyes were a picture in my head that wouldn't leave. He's the reason I was pulled into this and no matter how many times we told him, he never got the idea of keeping his mouth shut. So many instances of us almost being exposed by his loud mouth yelling about us being phantom thieves. It was almost frustrating to think back on it.

"Next, a fellow victim of Suguru Kamoshida's harassment, Ann Takamaki." How could anyone possibly forget Ann. She was definitely a beauty and a femme fatale, but even she went about being a thief the wrong way. Instead of taking it seriously and trying to focus, she would put on her fake tears and take the shadow down with her body instead of her whip. The first couple times it was an enjoyable sight, but overtime, it got almost as annoying as Ryuji.

"Following that, the pupil of Ichiryusai Madarame and student of Kosei Academy, Yusuke Kitagawa." A cold pair of eyes stared me down in my head. Yusuke was hesitant to believe us from the beginning and nearly had me arrested again. I was still angry with his hesitancy to accept the truth that was laid in front of him. He was a valuable member of the phantom thieves, but he was too naive in seeing the plain truth.

"Next, Wakaba Isshiki's daughter and Sojiro Sakura's foster child, Futaba Sakura." The fact that she had threatened to expose our secrets and was so unsure of her own heart change made her a liability. Her timidity and leading us on a wild goose chase was troublesome in our attempts to steal her desires and stop Medjed. If I had known anything about her sooner, I would have considered her being a potential target to the phantom thieves, but she didn't come along until we were so much more notorious.

"The daughter of the CEO of Okumura Foods and student at Shujin Academy, Haru Okumura." The target that put us in danger. Haru wasn't a threat to the phantom thieves, but the fact that Morgana roped her into this and put her in danger was nothing to be proud of. Her desire to help reform society was as strong if not more so than our own. It explains why she was such a good member to the team. However, when her father's unfortunate demise came, we were all put in danger.

"Finally...the student body...and my troublesome sister Makoto Nijiima." Makoto was definitely an interesting one. She was the only one to figure out the identities of the phantom thieves and she definitely used it to her advantage. The fact that she was troublesome about it and nearly caused us to be put in more trouble though was definitely aggravating. The more I thought about each of my allies, the more twisted my thoughts were about them. None of them had a true grasp on the justice that should have been spread by the phantom thieves and seemed to have their own selfish goals.

"If I'm correct, then these people were your accomplices acting as the phantom thieves. Is this true?" She asked me. I was tempted to rat them out on the spot. They were all careless and selfish in their ends. But, part of me knew that in order to see my goal through to the end, to complete my rehabilitation, that I 0couldn't risk it. I shook my head at the statement and Sae gave a frustrated sigh.

"So you won't give the identities of your accomplices. What about the culprit you mentioned?" She inquired once again. I knew without a shadow of a doubt who it was. My mind flashed once again to another familiar face. One framed with light brown hair and a cheerful smile. Goro Akechi, the second coming detective prince who despite his nature of betraying the team was actually doing things for not only his gain, but others as well. I told her I didn't know who it was and once again she was frustrated by this.

"Very well. You won't give me any information on the true culprit or his intentions. I have no other reason to suspect you as the culprit." She replied staring me down. I stayed silent while she got up. Once she left the room I reflected on the interrogation. 'Why did I keep his identity a secret?' I continued to ask myself. Eventually the door opened again and I saw him. Goro Akechi had stepped in with a gun in his hand and he had shot the guard who stood watch over me. My eyes were wide with shock.

"I must say I'm quite surprised. I never expected you to stay silent in the face of Sae-san." His polite and innocent sounding voice mused. He stepped closer to me placing his gun down on the table. I watched him as he grabbed the cellphone off the table and looked at me. His innocent smile contorted into a twisted grin. As he stared me down with his wicked eyes, I felt a slight bit of fear, but at the same time I felt comfort.

"I have to ask you why though? You had no intention of selling out your teammates from the beginning, but why keep my identity a secret?" He asked me. My eyes settled on his and I finally gave a response that was in my head since the interrogation with Sae. It was in front of me the whole time. None of the other phantom thieves had an idea of true justice from the beginning. Each of them stayed on the team for their own selfish goals and riding my coattails while I tried to fight back against those who sought to silence us. Akechi, finding my response amusing chuckled at this.

"That's why? You actually believe I'm seeking true justice after I put you in this situation?" I nodded at his question and he pulled the key to my handcuffs from the guard. Giving me another wicked smirk, Akechi loosened the cuffs and freed me. He offered me his hand with his smirk remaining on his face.

"Very well then. Let us show our true justice to society...partner. It's a promise of a lifetime and you can't turn back." My bond with Akechi had deepened. I fully understood his motives and was ready to take down those who stood in our way. Including my old teammates.

_"I am thou. Thou art I._

_Thou hast turned a vow into a blood oath._

_Thy bond shall become the wings of rebellion and break the yoke of thy heart._

_Thou hast awakened to the ultimate secret of the Lust Arcana, granting thee, infinite power."_


End file.
